Ireland Makes Blasphemy Illegal

July 10th, 2009

Father McGreer buys an ice cold beer
And a short for Father Loyola
Father Joe’s got the clap again
He’s drinking Coca-Cola

—The Pogues, Rain Street

Sane Response 1: I’ll Blaspheme Who I Want, You God Fearing Cunt Ahern

Sane Resonse 2: Blasphemy Law is Silly, Dangerous and Unjust

Via: Paliban Daily:

Irish atheists are horrified by new legislation making blasphemy illegal, and punishable by a 25,000-Euro fine. Christians of all stripes should be, too.

As part of a revision to defamation legislation, the Dail (Irish Parliament) passed legislation creating a new crime of blasphemy. This attack on free speech, debated for several months in Europe, has gone largely unnoticed in the American press.

The text of the legislation is provided at the end of this post.

How does this impact free speech? Just don’t be rude.

* Atheists can be prosecuted for saying that God is imaginary. That causes outrage.
* Pagans can be prosecuted for saying they left Christianity because God is violent and bloodthirsty, promotes genocide, and permits slavery.
* Christians can be prosecuted for saying that Allah is a moon god, or for drawing a picture of Mohammed, or for saying that Islam is a violent religion which breeds terrorists.
* Jews can be prosecuted for saying Jesus isn’t the Messiah.

Is it really THAT big a deal?

Ireland’s Blasphemy Bill not only criminalizes free speech, it also gives the police the authority to confiscate anything deemed “blasphemous”. They may enter and search any premises, with force if needed, upon “reasonable suspicion” that such materials are present.

* The local Freethinkers society, with its copies of Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
* The video store, with copies of The God Who Wasn’t There.
* The history teacher, who uses The Dark Side of Christian History to teach her class.
* The library, with its collection of books deemed blasphemous.
* Even the homeowner who lets the wrong person know he has a copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses could find his door broken in by the Thought Police, his bookshelves ransacked, and his books burning in the front yard!

Satirizing religion in any way, shape, or form, if it “causes outrage”, is now a prosecutable offense in Ireland. Saying anything negative about a religion, if it “causes outrage”, can now be prosecuted as a crime. Just like in Muslim countries.

Witness the return of the Dark Ages.

The text of the legislation:

36. Publication or utterance of blasphemous matter.

(1) A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000. [Amended to €25,000]

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters blasphemous matter if (a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion, and (b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates.

37. Seizure of copies of blasphemous statements.

(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 36, the court may issue a warrant (a) authorising any member of the Garda Siochana to enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) at all reasonable times any premises (including a dwelling) at which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that copies of the statement to which the offence related are to be found, and to search those premises and seize and remove all copies of the statement found therein, (b) directing the seizure and removal by any member of the Garda Siochana of all copies of the statement to which the offence related that are in the possession of any person, © specifying the manner in which copies so seized and removed shall be detained and stored by the Garda Siochana.

(2) A member of the Garda Siochana may (a) enter and search any premises, (b) seize, remove and detain any copy of a statement to which an offence under section 36 relates found therein or in the possession of any person, in accordance with a warrant under subsection (1).

(3) Upon final judgment being given in proceedings for an offence under section 36, anything seized and removed under subsection (2) shall be disposed of in accordance with such directions as the court may give upon an application by a member of the Garda Siochana in that behalf.

Research Credit: DG

4 Responses to “Ireland Makes Blasphemy Illegal”

  1. oelsen says:

    I want to remember my fellow Europeans that the European Arrest Warrant still exists.

    I cringe thinking about that.

  2. LykeX says:

    I wonder how much they’ve really thought about this. After all ever single christian violates 36.2.a simply by being a christian.
    The concepts of the trinity and the divinity of Jesus are both grossly blasphemous with regards to the jews and muslims.

    Section 36.2.b seems very open to interpretation. Surely it’s nearly impossible to prove what a persons intentions were.

    Also, why are there no provisions for protecting atheists against similar outrages? Atheists have often been labeled as less moral. Why should they have no protection?

    Lastly, I wonder how seriously they’re going to take “any religion”. After all, criticizing marijuana could get you fined for offending the rasta community.

    Bottom line, an idiotic idea that only proves how desperately religion needs to be put in its place.

  3. eyelight says:

    This has been generating a lot of negative opinion in Ireland for months and months now. Mostly incredulity though.

    Coincidently, making the news at the same time is this gem of a story, which is straight out of the realm of Father Ted.

    You couldn’t make this craziness up… Seems there are a lot of morons lurking in small rural towns.

    NEARLY 2,000 people have signed a petition seeking to prevent the removal of a tree stump on the grounds of a Co Limerick church, which they believe depicts an image of the Blessed Virgin.

    Scores of people from across the country gathered to say prayers at Holy Mary Parish Church in Rathkeale yesterday where workmen made the discovery while cutting down trees earlier this week……

    ……..Local parish priest Fr Willie Russell said on radio station Limerick Live 95FM yesterday that people should not worship the tree. “There’s nothing there . . . it’s just a tree . . . you can’t worship a tree.”

    A spokesman for the Limerick diocesan office said the “church’s response to phenomena of this type is one of great scepticism”.

    “While we do not wish in any way to detract from devotion to Our Lady, we would also wish to avoid anything which might lead to superstition,” he said.

    That last bit must be a contender for quote of the year!

  4. Peregrino says:

    I, for one, have never found it a wise practice to outrage an Irishman. This may be a good law. Seriously, this law is token and virtually unenforceable. All it really indicates is just how powerful rationalism has become, even in Ireland, where the Roman Catholics haven’t even succeeded in stamping out widespread belief in fairies, the predecessor religion to Roman Catholicism. In fact, most Irish priests believe in fairies, too. Having said all that, long live Ireland! One of the finest countries and peoples on earth.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.